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Jfw'. HARRIOTT. Pom- OFFICE' LQGK'VDBAWER. No; 486,777. vPatented Nov. 22,1892..-

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

vJOHN WM. HAERIOTT, OE sTAMFORD, CONNECTICUT, AssIG-NOR TOTHE YALE a TowNE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OE sA-ME PLACE. y

POST-OFFICE ALOCK-DRAWER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 486,777', dated November 22, 1892. Application tiled July 2l, 1892. Serial No. 440.-'728. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern/.f

Be it known that I, JOHN WM. HARRIOTT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Stamford, in the county of Fairfield and State ofA Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Post -Oiice Lock-v Drawers, of which the following' is a speci` cation. Y y i Heretofore drawers of this character have been made wholly or mainly of wood or of metal. I have found in practice that serious disadvantages result from such constructions, and it is the object of my present invention to avoid such disadvantages.

Drawers which are made wholly of wood when used in the screens of post-offices are very liable to give trouble, because, being usually in the lobby, they are subjected to great dampness at times and great heat at other times, so that it is a very difficult thing to get a wood drawer which will not be too tight at times and too loose at other times. Aside from the difficulties in the way of opening and shutting the drawer, the change in its dimensions affects the security of it, because underextremes of expansion or contraction it is either not possible to shutJ them at all or the latch will not catch firmly in its keeper, and so the drawer may be pulled Open. Drawers which are made wholly of metal must be heavy if they are sufficiently stiff, and, beside, the friction is great, and they are also noisy.

My invention combines all the advantages of a wooden drawer and a metal one.

It consists of the usual metallic front carrying the locking mechanism, a wooden back, wooden strips dovetailed in the back and riveted to the front, which serve as guides for the drawer, which are suitably grooved and which carry sheet-metal sides and bottom,

whose edges enter lthe grooves. The construction is such that it is not possible for any warping or swelling or other distortion to take place which will affect the operation of the drawer.

My invention will be fully understood upon reference to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and in which-` Y Figure 1 is a perspective View of a drawer and key-slot4- This front is preferably formed with a projecting flange 5. Extending from the rear side of the plate 1`are four vlugs 6, which serve to attach/the forward ends of the side frames to said front, and mounted upon the rear side of said plate area pair of locks 7, located at top-and bottom, respectively, and under the control of a key, which enters the key-slot 4, through the medium of any suitable locking mechanism.

8 represents the back of the drawer, which is parallel with the front, and 9 represents the side frames, each of which consists of two parallel stri ps, which are spaced apart, dovetailed to the back 10, and connected to the lugs 6 on the front by means of rivets 1l. The foregoing parts constitute the frame of the drawer, and it will be seen that said frame consists of the metallic front, a stout wooden back, and light side pieces, which are incapable of distorting the front and back by contraction or expansion. The frame of the drawer is thus made rigid, light, and of unchangeable dimensions. To complete the drawer, the bottom and side pieces are slotted at 12 for the reception of the sheet-metal bottom 13, and also at 14 for the reception of sheetmetal sides 15. These slots in the side pieces 9 extend throughout their length, and it is Obvious that before the front 1 is put in place the sheet-metal bottom and sides may be slipped into the slots with ease and afterward secured therein by the attachment of the front. This reduces the amount of joining to a minimum, effects a very cheap construction which is of unchangeable dimensions, and combines therewith security and lightness in the construction. The back S is provided with the usual recess 16, which permits the insertion of mail during distribution.

While my improved drawer is especially adapted for post-offices, where it is subjected IOO to unusual intiuences, itis also adapted for other uses', and I thereforedo not confine myself tothe use in connection with its special object.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent.:

1. A drawer constructed of the front, the back, the side pieces spaced apart and secured at their respective ends to the front and back, and the sheet-metal bottom and sides secured in the side pieces, substantially in the manner and for the purpose explained.

2. The herein-described drawer, consisting of the front, the back, the side pieces spaced y apart and secured at their respective ends to the front and back and provided with ylongitudinal slots, and the `bottom and the sides `made of sheet metal and secured in the slots in said side pieces, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

3. The herein-described drawer,construeted of a'wooden frame slotted vlongitudinally to receive the bottom and sides, the sheet-metal bottom and sides fitting in `said slots, and va metallic 4front attached atone endito the frame and-'keeping the bottom and sides lin place, al1 substantially as herein set forth.

4. The herein-described composite drawer,

constructed` of a wooden back, side l:frames which consist of twowooden strips dovetailed at their rear ends to the back and formed with longitudinal slots in their adjacent edges and also at the bottom, the sheet-metal sides and bottom slipped into the said slots, and the front attached to the front ends of the said frames and keeping the sides and bottom in place, all substantially as herein set forth.

5. The herein-described compositedrawer, consisting of the lstout Wooden back 8, having slot 12 at bottom, the side frames dovetailed at the rear ends to the back 8 and consisting of the upper strips grooved at 14 on their lower edges and the bottom strips grooved at 14 on their upper edges and also at 12 along their inner sides, the sheet -metal bottom formed 4to it in the slots 10 of the back andv `frames, 'having rearwardly-extending lugs-6 and `secured to the said frames by rivets 11,

all substantially as herein set forth.

JOHN WM. MARRIOTT.

Witnesses:

SOHUYLER MERRITT, GEO. E. WHITE. 

